Habitat for Humanity Reveal

Habitat for Humanity Reveal - So are you ready to see the Habitat room reveal? Well, it's reveal time!! This fantastic trip started out in Michigan... and end...

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

So are you ready to see the Habitat room reveal?

Well, it's reveal time!!

This fantastic trip started out in Michigan...
and ended in Georgia.

6 DIY bloggers

the awesome GMC & social media team

700 miles of yard sales in 3 days

and decorating a Habitat for Humanity home

A completely amazing experience.

We worked together

We shopped for each other
We decorated a whole house as a surprise

and
we did it all on a budget.

Just $250 each

Who were we decorating for?

A mom with 4 children
2 boys and 2 girls

Some of last years bloggers came to help us put everything together-

thank goodness~ they were a HUGE help

and they brought extra supplies too- which were amazing

like some of the fantastic furniture for the living room, boys bedroom and bathroom

that they painted while at Haven.

Brooke also ran to the thrift store on Sunday to grab as much extra treasures as she could find

to fill two blue metal shelving units in the LR that were generously donated by Rustoleum

Rustoleum also donated most of the knick knacks and
this completely perfect and fantastic rug for the living room
The coffee table was brought over by Pretty Handy Girl and was one that had a special
meaning to her. We all signed the top with a welcome message to the new family.

We ended up picking up the rest of the things we needed for the rooms that we didn't find on the sale
at stores in Atlanta- like Target and Ikea on Saturday afternoon.

Please note~

We are not all posting at the same time and each blogger

would like to share their own room in detail

Habitat for Humanity GMC Hidden Treasure Adventure

Here are detail photos of my rooms in the house

Kitchen, Dining Room & Laundry room

Yes, that is 3 rooms on that $250 budget and the Kitchen
which needed kitchen necessities more than decor
but I was up to the challenge.

Note~ I purchased the flowers out of pocket from a local grocery store- Not from the budget.

I wanted to give the new homeowners a welcome gift of beautiful fresh flowers
for their new home.

The Kitchen

A trio of vintage blue mason jars filled with pretty blooms on the sill

and a quick valance made from fabric the girls brought from Haven was perfect for the small window above

the kitchen sink (iphone photos- sorry)

I wanted to give them a little treat to enjoy when they moved in

and so after finding this vintage wooden tray on the yard sale-

I decided to set out a little tea and cocoa station for mom and kids

We all loved that decorative oversized plate covered in charm and bright colors

and it was perfect above the stove for a little pop of color

Tea towels at the sink and a row of mason jars filled with candy for the kids

and a fun filled container with movie night treats

(courtesy of GMC) on the counter

The white canisters were yard sale finds in great condition~ near new

and since they were small- they fit in the little area near the stove without

cluttering the counter space up.

Not shown are all the essentials that were purchased for the kitchen

which were all put away inside the cupboards
a set of dishes for 8
flatware
glassware
pots & pans, etc.

as well as the microwave courtesy of Pretty Handy Girl

Laundry Room

The laundry room was in a different configuration than we expected from the blueprint

so the plan adjusted a little.

I bought laundry soap and a big glass jar from Target
and the tray is a find from Jocie she didn't need

I searched and searched the yard sales but finally found 3 large wicker baskets for sorting clothes at the Georgia Re-Store.
They weren't for sale as the store was using them for storing things but they

decided to sell them to me- after Jocie got involved ;)
along with a pack of Mason jars and some other kitchen knick knacks

We also found a Laundry Room sign above the washer and dryer that I don't have a photo of

Dining Room

Where the budget in the kitchen went to the essentials that the family needed
the dining room got the bulk of the more fun decorating and it started with this table and 4 side chairs set
that I loved instantly. I wanted original character and this set definitely had it.

The chairs only needed new seat covers, a bit of tightening and cleaning up
and we needed two more chairs to make 6 but otherwise
it was a perfect style and in good condition.

We majorly lucked out finding the end chairs at another sale
and they were a nearly perfect match in finish.

The antique crock for holding flowers was a junking find

as were the set of perfect white dishes to fill the cupboard and to set the table.

The white drapes were Carissa's drapes originally.
The drapes I purchased from Ikea were needed in the LR when they noticed one extra window that wasn't planned for and so we played musical drapes a bit with my original drapes going to Jocie in the LR
Carissa's drapes (these) coming to the dining room
and Carissa using a leftover white swag of fabric for her window.

We were all working as a team to give the homeowners
the best possible home- even if it meant changing our own rooms and designs to help finish another.

Collected silver platters from a couple sales went on the wall-
I was also planning on

ironstone or floral platters- but they were a little too pricey to collect enough of on the sale.

I wish there would have been room (and extra $) for a china cabinet- it would have been perfect!

Closer look at the end chairs we found at a separate sale- for $20 each.
They were perfect and were even wearing the same vintage yellow finish as the table and chairs

They wore plaid on one side and more colorful upholstery on the other which
brought in a little bit of English cottage charm
The younger children loved these and claimed them as their spots for dinner right away.
The side dining chairs were re-covered in drop cloth

You know I had to make them a chalk board- so I found a big vintage gold frame

and turned it into chalkboard for the longer wall opposite the window

The mom was thrilled to have a spot to write chores on ;)

and the youngest girl started doodling on it right away

After she wrote 'Love' on the chalkboard-

she came over and wanted to show it to me

I smiled and asked her if she loved her new home and was happy

and she nodded and did a little dance.

It was so sweet.

Another happy tears moment.

:)

There were lots of tears all around from everyone when the family arrived

and they saw their new home was ready for them to move into.
It truly felt so amazing to be able to do something like this for them
and to see how happy and touched they were.

As a thank you
the mom sang a special song for Habitat that she had written.

Yep, you guessed it- there were more tears.
:)

It truly was such an honor to be a part of something like this
and I want to send HUGE thanks to Chris and the whole GMC team for including me
and giving me the opportunity to give back in such an amazing way with my blog.

A big thank you to last years bloggers that came to help too

disclosure

My trip to participate in the GMC Hidden Treasure Adventure was paid for
but I was not compensated in any way
and all opinions are my own.

Beautiful!! *have a very full heart*I work with the Salvation Army Oct to Dec. and volunteer during the year. We help transition homeless people/families into homes. They get counseling on budgeting and parenting and then after completing the requirements we get them into a place. Such a great feeling. We also help with furnishings. Thanks for doing what you did!! Hugs, Gee

I've always known how amazingly gifted you are.....but to do this on such a limited budget/with such time constraints....it's just incredible....what a tremendously important way to contribute and make the world a better place!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

What a magnificent job you did - for 250 dollars????????I want that dining room set - those end chairs are absolutely spectacular!!!" Canada " comes from my neck of the woods - Quebec - she's on the outskirts thoughI believe - I'm in Montreal :)You girls must be exhausted - but I can't imagine a better way to sleep at night then doing this for a family!Way to go................beautiful beautiful job - all of you!XOXO

Well, you can add more tears to the buckets that were already shed. I watched the little video after reading your post and it just made my heart so happy. I was a single mom of 2 and would have been so extremely blessed to have had something so beautiful happen for us. What a marvelous thing to show the children that if you work hard you will have good things come your way. You all did such a great job and I bet the trip was a blast but exhausting. God will bless you many time over for your work.

Courtney! Bless your heart! I have tears in my eyes as I type this. I love what you did with their kitchen! What an honor to be able to particpate in something so wonderful. It's a real joy to give back to the community and I can tell you made that family happy.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!! All teary-eyed after reading all about this Courtney! What a wonderful heartwarming experience for you and that lucky deserving family in Georgia! Way to go!!!! You did a fabulous job...PS LOVED the dining room chairs!!! What a find!